


sugar in my arms

by cjmasim



Category: Men's Hockey RPF, Women's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Boston Red Sox, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Getting Together, Grocery Shopping, Meet-Cute, also Pasta is in law school still but everyone else has a job, as a plot device, but it's a quick progression, not exactly but it's basically post-grad in an au where none of them are hockey players
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:57:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21542392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjmasim/pseuds/cjmasim
Summary: There's only one cup left on the shelf, she realizes with a jolt of panic, and she rushes to grab it.She reaches out for it only to knock into someone else's arm pulling back from the shelf with the last cup of instant Korean barbecue noodles in her hand. Hayley looks up, stunned, to see a frustratingly hot girl with a blonde ponytail and a taunting smirk on her face."Guess I won," she says.
Relationships: Maddie Elia/Hayley Scamurra, minor Danton Heinen/Sean Kuraly
Comments: 6
Kudos: 9





	sugar in my arms

**Author's Note:**

  * For [goldenpuno](https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenpuno/gifts).

> this is my birthday gift to therese, aka the danton to my sean and one of my best friends 💗💖💝💘 it's a little late but it's still the right day in some time zones so at least there's that! anyway i love you and i'm honored to be able to call you my friend uwu. clown rights forever. i don't necessarily go here i.e. scamaddie but i know enough thanks to therese and i wanted to do something extra special! this was very fun to write tbh
> 
> the title is from in my arms by grayscale.
> 
> enjoy!

Grocery shopping after work every Thursday has become Hayley's routine. There's a Star Market just by her work, right on the walk back to the bus. It's convenient. 

There's a strange comfort in strolling down the aisles looking for food she wants to make that week. Would it be smart to bring a list? Sure. Is she going to do that? Absolutely not. She has some chicken in the freezer and the ingredients to cook it already, and she'll just eat whatever Sean makes at least two days out of the week. She just needs a few snacks and maybe some noodles and she'll be all set. 

Pasta would make a joke about how he's the only noodle she needs, but one glance at the instant Korean barbecue flavored noodles is all it takes for Hayley to know that's not true. There's only one cup left on the shelf, she realizes with a jolt of panic, and she rushes to grab it. 

She reaches out for it only to knock into someone else's arm pulling back from the shelf with the last cup of instant Korean barbecue noodles in her hand. Hayley looks up, stunned, to see a frustratingly hot girl with a blonde ponytail and a taunting smirk on her face. 

"Guess I won," she says. 

Hayley glares, feeling rage bubbling inside of her. "That's not fair," she says. "I was here first. You're just taller than me."

The girl laughs. "Not enough to make a difference. Just get here earlier next time, yeah? Or work on your speed."

Hayley opens her mouth, wanting to retaliate but too stunned to know what to say. The girl just smiles and walks away, dropping the cup of noodles into her basket as she goes. 

-

As if the day hasn't been enough already, she has to wait five whole minutes to get across the Fens because of the geese blocking the sidewalk. They're moving so, so slowly, and she can't go in the grass around them without risking stepping in their shit. At least they aren't attacking her. 

If there's a silver lining to all of this, it's that it negates the usual awkwardness of walking across her old campus to get to the bus. It's not as bad later in the week - seeing all the orientation groups full of baby-faced freshmen on Mondays and Tuesdays makes her feel old, and maybe that's part of why Thursday is the perfect day for grocery shopping. Once the semester starts, though, she's sure she's going to feel weird carrying her groceries past groups of teenagers headed to the same dining hall she used to steal sugar cookies from every day.

Tonight she's just pissed. The bus comes quickly enough, and once she gets on she turns up the volume on the angriest playlist she has and tries to keep that asshole blonde girl out of her head. 

It doesn't work. 

It's nearly a 30-minute bus ride to Jamaica Plain, and by the time the bus gets to her stop she hasn't calmed down at all. She slams the door on her way into her apartment, and Sean pauses the TV almost immediately.

"You good?" 

Hayley drops the groceries on the counter. "God, wait until I tell you about this asshole."

Pasta comes out of the bathroom, toothbrush in hand. He mumbles something, but it doesn't come out clear at all. 

"Just finish getting ready and I'll tell both of you," she says. Pasta obliges. 

Sean wordlessly helps her put away the groceries while Pasta finishes brushing his teeth and doing his hair, and when he comes back, he asks her to go on. 

"I have to leave for class in 10 minutes so give me the quick version," he grins.

Hayley wastes no time getting started. "So I was at Star Market, like always, and I decided I wanted some Korean barbecue noodles because like, obviously. So I went up to the aisle to get some and saw there was only one left. I like, ran up to it but this other girl beat me to it and grabbed the last one. Which like, okay, fine, whatever, but then she had to go and be an asshole about it. Like, fuck off, I was plenty fast enough and she's just taller than me."

"Wow," Pasta shakes his head. "F's in the chat."

Hayley glares at him. "This is serious business. I might have to start going to Stop and Shop just to find some decent human beings."

"No, yeah, you're totally right," Pasta says. "I'll take her out. Just tell me the time and address."

"Dunkin parking lot at 3am?" Sean asks. 

"But which Dunkin?" Hayley asks. 

"All of them," Pasta says. "I'll be there. But for now I have to go to class, so good luck relaxing and all."

"Thanks," Hayley says, offering a small smile. "Good luck with - what is this, Constitutional Law?" Pasta's in Northeastern's law school, and they talk sometimes about the campus and the hockey teams. Sean's always out of the loop on those conversations, having gone to BC. 

"Yeah," Pasta confirms. "I'll be up late studying but I'll see you tomorrow."

As soon as he leaves, Hayley jumps right back into being angry. "So you know, if she had just taken it and moved on then maybe I wouldn't be mad, but she had to talk to me? 'Guess I won', like bro what the fuck?"

Sean nods. "Yeah, that was a dick move."

Hayley sighs. "You know, maybe if she were, like, a boomer with an I-want-to-speak-to-the-manager haircut I wouldn't care so much, but she was, like. Hot."

"Oh shit," Sean laughs. "So you like her?"

"Dude, no," she winces. "I just, like, wish hot girls would be nice and chill. Maybe I’m lonely."

"Wish you had someone to hang with besides some lame bartender and a law student?" Sean grins. 

Hayley laughs. "No, no, I love you both." It's true, though they do both have schedules that make it harder to find time to spend with them. She's lucky it's Sean's night off or she'd be alone right now. "I'll get over it, though. Might never see her again."

"Changing your grocery day to Wednesdays?" Sean asks with a laugh. 

"Never," Hayley grins. "I won't let her win."

"We should make up for what you've lost," Sean says. 

"What?"

"Let's get some takeout," he explains. "Korean barbecue."

She almost wants to scream. "Holy fuck, yes. You're the best!"

-

Hayley doesn't see the noodle thief the next Thursday, nor the one after that. She's still thinking about her on the bus ride back, though the anger has mostly faded. Going to the grocery store at the same time every week must not be part of her routine. It's unlikely they'll ever cross paths again in a city as big as Boston, so there's no reason to fixate on her. 

Besides, tomorrow is Friday and she's going to the Red Sox game with a friend from work. Danton is a relatively new hire and recent graduate just like her, and while he's a little awkward, he's super nice and has a great sense of humor. He claims he knows a lot about baseball thanks to a guy he dated in high school, so she's looking forward to his game commentary even if he doesn't know much about the Red Sox. 

She goes to sleep thinking of how it's sure to be a great day. She must have jinxed it.

_Hey, sorry, I'm not going to be able to make the game tonight_, reads the text from Danton. 

_Omg are u ok??_ She sends back.

_A pipe burst in my apartment so I have to stay here to meet the maintenance crew. Do you have anyone else who can go, or should I sell the ticket?_

_Hmmm yeah Sean and Pasta are busy tonight so sell it I guess 😪_

_I'm really sorry, but I hope we can go again sometime. You sure you still want to go?_

Hayley would laugh if she weren't half asleep. Of course she's still going.

_Fuck yeah man it's a sox-yanks game that’s like bucket list shit. You'll make the next one_

_Okay :)_

Danton texts like her 50-year-old dad, but it's kind of endearing. She feels like Sean would be into it - maybe she should set them up.

-

It's not the first time she's been to a sporting event alone, but it's the first time she's been to a baseball game alone. She's more familiar with hockey and basketball, but she knows the sport well enough to follow it. Fenway's got a great atmosphere anyway; it's worth the experience on its own.

She just scrolls through her phone and eats a Fenway Frank while waiting for the game to start. The hot dog isn't really any better than a normal hot dog, but she didn't actually expect it to be. The first inning has already started by the time the seat that was supposed to be Danton's is filled. 

Hayley looks up to see a familiar face. Her heart stops for a second - this can't be happening. It's the Korean barbecue thief. 

"What are you doing here?" She asks without even thinking. 

The girl looks surprised for a second before recognition flashes in her eyes. "Oh," she says. "You're that girl who was pressed I got the last cup of noodles, right? Too bad, really. I burned them and they didn't even taste good. Probably should've let you have it, but oh well. Hindsight's 20/20."

Hayley doesn't know what to say to that.

"I'm Maddie by the way," she says as she takes her seat. "I bought this ticket from your friend. He said on Facebook Marketplace that he couldn't make it, so it's fair game, right?"

"Yeah, that's - fine. Sorry," Hayley says. "Uh, I'm Hayley."

"Hope you're ready for some opinions," Maddie grins. "Trust me, I have a lot of them."

-

As the game goes on, Maddie keeps talking. She wasn't kidding about having a lot of opinions, but she also knows the game really well. Hayley feels like she's learning, and really, Maddie's actually hilarious. And kind of fun to talk to. And, like, really hot. The fact that she went to BU _and_ stole the last cup of Korean barbecue noodles and Hayley doesn't even hate her at all is pretty telling. 

"Maybe I'll take you out for some real Korean barbecue sometime," Maddie says during the break between the 8th and 9th innings. It's so casual Hayley almost thinks she imagined it. "If you'd like that."

Hayley's heart starts beating twice as fast almost immediately. "Yeah, that'd be - amazing, actually," she says. "I mean, I guess you owe it to me."

Maddie laughs. "Yeah, no. Maybe I owe you some instant noodles. This is just a date, not noodle wars."

"Noodle wars?" Hayley laughs. "Okay, that'll be our second date."

-

They end up going to a nice Korean restaurant in the West End, and the food is a lot better than the instant noodles would have been. Talking to Maddie feels natural and _right_, and Hayley's starting to wonder if she's accidentally stumbled into a cheesy rom-com. Maybe this is just her life now. And maybe it's a little early to be thinking like that - it's only their first date. 

After they eat, they take some time to walk around the city and watch the sunset. It's a particularly bold one tonight, and it's made more special by the warmth of Maddie's hand in hers.

"Almost as beautiful as you," Maddie says. It's possibly the flirtiest thing she's said so far, and Hayley is sure she's blushing. 

"You know, when I was a sophomore I lived in this high rise dorm," Hayley says. "And I'd always get such a nice view of the sunset. I had, like, a million shitty iPhone pictures of it."

"I'm a sucker for a good sunset pic," Maddie admits. "I should've followed you on Insta back then. You probably posted them all to stories, right?"

"Yeah, of course," Hayley laughs. "What else would I do with them?"

"I know you so well already," Maddie says. "Can't wait to get to learn even more."

"Well, hey, we could always go check out that arts market downtown. I know a great bubble tea place near it," Hayley suggests. "I think it's called Happy Lemon?"

"Oh fuck yeah," Maddie grins. "I'd love that. Maybe another Red Sox game sometime, too. An official date."

"Sounds perfect," Hayley says. It's hard to imagine that she ever used to hate Maddie.

-

Hayley doesn't find out about Danton's birthday until she shows up at work one day and asks him if he has any plans for the rest of the week. 

"Oh, I don't know," he says. "I don't normally do anything for my birthday."

"Your what?"

"Oh, uh, that's today," he shrugs. 

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't think it was a big deal," he says. Hayley is stunned. Sure, Danton's awkward and like, probably doesn't have many friends, but he's too young not to celebrate his birthday.

"I'm throwing you a party this Saturday," she says. Danton doesn't argue, so she has three days to put that together. 

It works out surprisingly well. She doesn't know a ton of people who would want to attend the birthday party of someone they've never met, so it's easy enough to get Sean to help her make a reservation at the bar he works at. He doesn't have the night off, but he'll be there. Add in Hayley, Maddie, Pasta, and his friends Jake and Anders and they have enough to call it a party. 

Danton seems pleasantly surprised to have people celebrating his birthday and just genuinely happy to see him, even having never met him, and it warms Hayley's heart to see. He gets along well with everyone, actually, and she thinks she'd like to hang out with him outside of work more often. Based on how close Sean is standing to him at the bar right now, she's pretty sure he feels the same way. 

"This was a really cool idea," Maddie tells her. Pasta, Jake, and Anders have left for the dance floor, and Sean and Danton are still wrapped up in each other, so it's just the two of them. "I had fun."

"Because of the party, or because you get to spend time with me?" Hayley's just blatantly flirting at this point, but they've been on two dates now, three if the Red Sox game counts. They're far enough in.

"Definitely both," Maddie grins. She leans closer, and Hayley's pretty sure she's about to kiss her, so she leans in to close the gap. Maddie kisses back like she's been waiting for this all week, which she probably has. It's intense and Hayley feels a little bit like she's on fire, but, like, in a good way. She could do this all night.

They break apart only because they need oxygen. Hayley's pretty sure neither of them care if the bar patrons see them. 

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?" Maddie asks. It's almost ridiculously casual, but somehow it feels perfect for them. 

"Of course," Hayley says, pulling her in for another kiss. "I'd love nothing more."

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer that the geese mentioned in this fic are actually very good and friendly and Hayley was just mad.
> 
> Playlist and cover art can be found [here](https://cjmasim.tumblr.com/post/627101790351114240/fic-23-sugar-in-my-arms-ships)!


End file.
